Vitamin D3 Tablets.

[Sandals]

I'm not sure I have added this to the correct section in the forum but am wondering if anyone can recommend a Brand of Vitamin D3 that doesn't contain fillers or any other chemicals that may be harmful?

I'm looking for the nearest to 5000 iu's I can get.

Thank you!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I went to a natural food store and found one made with mushroom

I hope someone will post for you because i cannot remember the brand but if you buy it organic and depending the Country that you are from, it is safe.

All the best!

p.s Look i found this, this is organic and you can get that at whole food if you are in the US

http://www.sourceoflife.com/products/product_details.asp?productNumber=30735&criteria=keywordSearchResults&category=15

[Effymiller1992]

Garden of Life makes a raw D3 that I am pretty sure is available in 1000, 2000, and 5000IU. Megafood makes an awesome vegan, whole food based D3. Source Naturals makes a sublingual D3 that is highly absorbable but I'm not sure where their D3 is sourced from, whereas I know Megafood comes from cervises yeast and Garden of Life comes from algae.
Bluebonnet, Solaray, Twinlabs and Now all alsomake forms of D3.

I would definitely check out Garden of Life, Megafood, and Source Naturals first though. These are the most popular ones we sell at my work (at a health food store) with raw foodists and vegans.

[fastfreedom]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that D3 is actually an animal based supplement and D2 is a plant based one.

Just FYI, if you're looking for one that's not animal based. Also I kind of think that with the plant based one it's been found that you need to consume more.?.?

[MysticTree]

I think there is a vegan one now but generally it's not vegan. New processes make it possible I suppose. I would like to have my levels checked because in the UK we are getting very little sun and it would be good to know.

[Effymiller1992]

You are correct Mystic, most D3 supplements are derived from animal products, but some companies (at least in the US) that produce D3 from mushrooms, algae and cervisces yeast.

[Non]

what, algae? I wonder how they get algae to produce it. I know fermenting rye can give D3.

[debbyjetsons]

I'm just starting to be in Raw foods and I'm curious about one Dr named Dr. Mercola, I want to try this some astaxanthin and zinc supplement at http://products.mercola.com/zinc-supplements/ that Dr. Oz is talking about on his show with Mercola. Is it really that good? And is it worthy?

[Raw Angel Mom]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that D3 is actually an animal based supplement and D2 is a plant based one.

Just FYI, if you're looking for one that's not animal based. Also I kind of think that with the plant based one it's been found that you need to consume more.?.?


Not true, you can find D3 in plant, research and see...

[robh]

30 minutes in the sun each day is a Vitamin D option, as well. Currently, getting out in the sun is not that hard in my region. I know other regions are an exception, but FYI.

[MysticTree]

Pity you can't get it from rain!

[Raw Angel Mom]

Actually, it doesn't matter if this is cloudy, it is actually better because the cloud block UV and you still get vitamin D.

[Sandals]

Thanks everyone. I live in Ireland and some days it's just not possible to get 30 mins outside. I get 30 mins to eat my lunch and do other stuff on my lunch break. And it rains so much here too.

I get out every opportunity I can and currently take 5000iu's a day but the company is not stocking the D3 anymore. My levels are just at normal as i get tested once a year.

So I will research some of your suggestions. Thank you.

[Charybdisjim]

My former roommate had a lot of difficulty with her raw vegan diet at first because she is predisposed, for various reasons, towards b12 and vitamin D deficiency. I worked with her on researching a couple of possible solutions and we did find some that worked.

For vitamin D we found that some mushrooms can provide almost theraputic concentrations of vitamin D after being exposed to UV light and some dried mushrooms provided high levels without any exposure nescessary. Dried shitake mushrooms for example provided almost as much vitamin D per ounce as dietary supplementes. Other mushrooms provided excellent levels of vitamin D after 5 minutes exposure to UV light (we built a box with a UV bulb in it - box protects you from UV exposure.) To give an idea of how effective this is, 1 cup of white mushrooms exposed to UV B light for 5 minutes can be expected to have upwards of 3500 IU of vitamin D!

[MysticTree]

Wow. How did you measure this?

[Charybdisjim]

The measurement of actual vitamin D content as a product of UV exposure was something we found in research journals - not measurements we took ourselves. I suppose we could have performed paper chromatography ourselves, but that might have been redundant since food researchers have already performed those assays. We were merely benefiting from their experiments by researching the topic in print and online. I guess having access to normally expensive scientific publications through your university library can be somewhat of an advantage when trying to comb through all the stuff out there and separate actual peer reviewed papers from the crud on some online free databases.

The only first hand confirmation we had was that after adding UV exposed mushrooms to her diet her doctor said the levels of vitamin D in her blood had gone up significantly and she was no longer experiencing a deficiency. Since some dried shitake varieties are sun-dried that might explain their particularly high vitamin D content.

[Living Food]

Actually, it doesn't matter if this is cloudy, it is actually better because the cloud block UV and you still get vitamin D.

Sadly, it's the other way around.


Pity you can't get it from rain!

Indeed, but rain has a host of other benefits so it's still a good idea to be outside either when it's raining or right after if you don't want to get wet.

[Charybdisjim]

^ Yeah, hence why a UV light is needed to produce high levels of vitamin D in mushrooms and why a simple light bulb doesn't do the trick. In the human body vitamin D is produced by UV irradiation of certain colesterols; in mushrooms I beleive it is a certain sterol that serves as a vitamin D precursor but which is not something the human body can absorb unless you convert it before eating it.

[MysticTree]

I shall suggest to my vit d deficient friend about the mushrooms. Do they have to still be growing or does on work on already picked mushrooms too?

[Raw Angel Mom]

My former roommate had a lot of difficulty with her raw vegan diet at first because she is predisposed, for various reasons, towards b12 and vitamin D deficiency. I worked with her on researching a couple of possible solutions and we did find some that worked.

For vitamin D we found that some mushrooms can provide almost theraputic concentrations of vitamin D after being exposed to UV light and some dried mushrooms provided high levels without any exposure nescessary. Dried shitake mushrooms for example provided almost as much vitamin D per ounce as dietary supplementes. Other mushrooms provided excellent levels of vitamin D after 5 minutes exposure to UV light (we built a box with a UV bulb in it - box protects you from UV exposure.) To give an idea of how effective this is, 1 cup of white mushrooms exposed to UV B light for 5 minutes can be expected to have upwards of 3500 IU of vitamin D!

Same here, i find this is fascinating and want to know more.

Thank you for sharing you have an interesting reply

All the best!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

For vitamin D we found that some mushrooms can provide almost theraputic concentrations of vitamin D after being exposed to UV light and some dried mushrooms provided high levels without any exposure nescessary. Dried shitake mushrooms for example provided almost as much vitamin D per ounce as dietary supplementes. Other mushrooms provided excellent levels of vitamin D after 5 minutes exposure to UV light (we built a box with a UV bulb in it - box protects you from UV exposure.) To give an idea of how effective this is, 1 cup of white mushrooms exposed to UV B light for 5 minutes can be expected to have upwards of 3500 IU of vitamin D!

Yes, l have read that testing of shitake mushrooms have far higher vitamin D when dried under the sun, but how long before the vitamin D is lost again? And what about the other nutrient loses caused by leaving harvested food out in the sun? lt needs to be balanced out l think..pros and cons and the individual's unique condition. lf you are D deficient and have trouble getting good sunlight and take showers each day, then l would think mushroom drying under the sun would be the way to go.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Some vitamin D foods people may not be aware of:

• flax seeds
• alfalfa
• skitake mushrooms (100 I.U per 100 grams for fresh and 1,600 I.U per 100 gram sun dried for D2).
• seaweed
• Kelp
• Alfalfa
• Wheatgrass
• Arame
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Blue green algae
• Onion sprouts
• Buckwheat greens
• pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• sunflower greens = 92 I.U per 100 grams

l'll get myself tested again soon and see how the D is going during the winter.



Different forms of vitamin D
CHOLECALCIFEROL D3
CALCIDIOL 25(OH)D3 (second most active form, but needs further processing into 1,25(OH)2D3
CALCITRIOL 1,25(OH)2D3 (most active form, made from 25(OH)D3 above))
ERGOCAL CIFEROL D2 (Extracted from plants)


The proper vitamin D test to have done
The only vitamin D test you need is the CALCIDIOL 25(OH)D3
Or
25-hydroxy-D3
It is not necessary to do a test on the CALCITRIOL 1,25(OH)2D3

Here is a highly regarded vegan source of D3 from shitake mushrooms:
http://www.hippocratesstore.org/root/supplements/lifegive/lifegive-sun-d.htm

Vitamin D doses and toxicity (it’s all proportional to body weight)

40,000 I.U to kill a rat. So that is equivalent to 7,000,000 – 10,000,000 I.U to kill a 75kg man.
There is no toxicity from up to 30,000 I.U (depending on body weight) . The only risk with extremely high doses (much higher) may be hypercalcemia.
If you are 0 – 1 year old and live at 30 degree latitude or higher, take 500 – 1,000 I.U D3 daily
If you are a teenager and live at 30 degree latitude or higher, take 4,000 – 5,000 I.U D3 daily
If you are an adult and live at 30 degree latitude or higher, take 5,000 – 6,000 I.U D3 daily
Pregnant women need 6,000 – 10,000 I.U per day
(the higher latitudes get less sunlight)
People in Oz are about 40 degree latitude [or less], so they don’t get enough sun during cooler months.
Only 30% of the vitamin D in the mother goes into the baby.

[SunshineMN]

I'd really like to see some studies on the RDA for raw people. I think what we have now is a bunch of hooey. Then again I don't really trust governments at all.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Couple trick about getting the vitamin D from the sun.

Shower before you go to the sun. Yes, you heard me. The oil of your skin will store the vitamin D and it cans take a few days before it is absorb by your body. IF you going to wash, don't wash the skin that was expose to the sun.

Unless you drive, don't wear sunglasses. Your eye will take the vitamin D.

Sleep in the complete dark at night. You need this for your gland to secrete the Melatonin which is critical to assimilate the Vitamin D

To avoid UV, get the sunlight up to hour after sunrise or one hour before sunset. Also when cloudy outside you are Vitamin D and no UV because the cloud block it.

Enjoy the natural sunlight!

p.s Your body cans store vitamin D, so for the place that have most day light during summer, go outside as much you can to store for the winter.

[Charybdisjim]

I shall suggest to my vit d deficient friend about the mushrooms. Do they have to still be growing or does on work on already picked mushrooms too?

You do it after they've been picked. As long as the mushrooms haven't been dried out in air too much beforehand all the active chemistry will be present and the conversion should still work. It works best in shitake and crimini mushrooms but has also been measured in white button mushrooms (up to 3500 IU produced per cup.) What is great about this is that it is converting indigestible sterols which would normally not provide any nutrition on their own and have been associated with mushroom intolerance. Some of these compounds are of course destroyed by cooking methods normally, but UV/sun exposure has the distinct benefit of converting them to useful nutrients rather than simply removing them from the food.

As someone else mentioned, sun-drying the mushrooms also produces significant amounts of vitamin D so the process is pretty durable and the nutrient content persists even when one is drying mushrooms. Sun-dried shitake mushrooms are actually one of the denser natural sources of vitamin D out there and the concentrations present approach theraputic levels - potent enough that consuming them every day might be a bit of overkill.

[MysticTree]

We eat marinated mushrooms a couple of times a week every couple of weeks. We haven't had much sun to expose the mushrooms to though. Lots of rain but only a little sun. But I'm going to try it when I spy a few rays.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Shower before you go to the sun. Yes, you heard me. The oil of your skin will store the vitamin D and it cans take a few days before it is absorb by your body. IF you going to wash, don't wash the skin that was expose to the sun.
Yes! lt takes up to 48 hours to absorb all the D3, but you will still absorb enough if you get good sun exposure.


Unless you drive, don't wear sunglasses. Your eye will take the vitamin D.
Yes!

.[/QUOTE]

[MysticTree]

Yes, l have read that testing of shitake mushrooms have far higher vitamin D when dried under the sun, but how long before the vitamin D is lost again? And what about the other nutrient loses caused by leaving harvested food out in the sun? lt needs to be balanced out l think..pros and cons and the individual's unique condition. lf you are D deficient and have trouble getting good sunlight and take showers each day, then l would think mushroom drying under the sun would be the way to go.

I don't think it needs to be in the sun for long. If it were done when the mushrooms were growing still then surely you'd count that as adding good vibrations to the mushrooms as well as the vit D!!!

[RAWCA]

Does anyone know if Vitamin D3 is good for hair regrowth, from female pattern balding?
Primarily crownal thining

[walnutty]

I'd really like to see some studies on the RDA for raw people. I think what we have now is a bunch of hooey. Then again I don't really trust governments at all.


Amen, sister!